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The overall mission statement of this blog is to share many unique topics of this blogger's interest. Topics include (but are not limited to):Southern Cultural Heritage,Local History of the South Carolina Upstate,Confederate Heritage Preservation & Awareness,Americana,Nature & Wildlife Preservation,Science & Science Fiction,Astronomy & Night Sky Photography,Literacy & Writing,Travel & Local Places Of Interest, Southern Cuisine, Popular Culture & Philosophy, Classic Animation Nostalgia,Fandom....as well as various other topics explained from the blogger's point of view. The following website contains theUNCENSOREDthoughts and opinions of a Southern-born country writer from upstate South Carolina - the living, beating heart of the great American Southland!

Monday, May 15, 2017

A Challenge To Those Who Want Confederate Symbols Removed From Public Property

There are some individuals out there, many of them opposed to displays of Southern-Confederate historical symbols, who would like me to shut up and disappear from the internet forever.

Well, I will give them their wish....on one condition.

I would like to formally issue a challenge to all Leftists, avowed Marxist-Leninists-Socialists, antifas, BLMs, Social Justice Warriors, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the National Association for the Advancement of (Liberal) Colored People (NAACP), "One-Nation-One-Flag" uber-patriots, Left-leaning "historians", or just your plain ole average self-hating Southerner sitting in front of their computer screens that believes one can simply pick and choose what aspect of heritage everyone should honor....and if I left out any group of whiny, guild-ridden, privileged, virtue-signaling snowflakes, I include y'all too!

I know that in opposing the displays of Southern-Confederate symbols (banners, monuments, grave sites, street names, building names, ect.) all of y'all have a specific set of views. Maybe not all the same points specifically, but the end results would all be the same; namely no Confederate flags, monuments, or other symbols on public property. Adding to that the disenfranchisement of anyone unashamed to display them, or disagree with what you consider the "judgement of history" from your unique -- if woefully limited -- perspective.

All of y'all have stated time and time again over the last three decades that these symbols are racist symbols of white supremacy and that the removal of these symbols will bring about: racial reconciliation, social "progress" and pride in America values....at least those "values" as defined by the tenements of groups of people that consider the founding of this country to be unfair in some vague, moralistic way.

I disagree and have stated on this blog that the symbols of Southern-Confederate historical heritage are a part of cultural diversity, that it is defined in a modern Southern mindset by most descendants of Confederate soldiers and servicemen (and women) as a living heritage honored and embraced by a broad ethnic spectrum of those who define themselves as Southern people. I have also shown many proofs of this here at Southern Fried Common Sense through indisputable photographic evidence. Told what I have witnessed through my own eyes over the course of pro-Southern heritage* defense and activism.

In short, I am more than confident in the validity of my viewpoints, and those shared by many others across the American Southland. I have little doubt that promotion of those views, while rejecting those views of the Opposition which seek to remove and define these symbols in their own way as negative, is the moral correct answer, and the only honorable path to True Tolerance in the South and America as a whole. I have even shown the proof that our way leads to understanding and ends misguided fear for those who should never have to fear those symbols in the first place.

Obviously many of y'all have disagreed with me over the years, feared my calling attention to the positive results of advancing the pro-Confederate heritage message, and done what has been your (cough cough cough) "best" to shut me up....and ultimately failed.

So what is the point of this blog post you might ask?

Well, I am going to give all of y'all the best chance you will ever have to shut me up for good. At the same time give y'all a forum here at my UNCENSORED blog to prove that the anti-Confederate heritage regressive view in this fight can achieve its stated goals. I am a man of my word. If you take this challenge and provide the evidence I ask for in specific, irrefutable detail, then I will post my final farewell and say adios here on this blog. I will even cease my active defense of Confederate symbols and historical heritage on other online forums and....well, retire. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity snowflakes, and I am handing you the prospect of a final and total victory against The Man Deniers Fear The Most. Are you ready? Okay then, here we go. Here is my formal challenge to the regressive forces aligned against Southern-Confederate historical heritage:In the last 25 years, since this war against Confederate symbols began, hundreds of flags, street names, signs, markers, monuments, logos, ect. have been removed or replaced. In all of these instances those of you who supported their removal made the bold claim that doing so would bring about: racial equality, reconciliation, healing and tolerance. Out of all of those hundreds of examples to date, site for me one -- JUST ONE! -- instance where those stated goals have actually been achieved by those actions. Include as proof whatever evidence you can provide that DIRECTLY links the removal and replacement of those symbols with the outcomes that you claimed would occur.

Prove
to me for all time that the promotion of a pro-white supremacist view of misguided fear of the symbols of a living Southern-Confederate heritage
y'all advocate has ever, or will ever, result in the "healing and reconciliation" you claim it will achieve. I need real proof, not conjecture. Example: stating that "the removal of the battle flag from the Confederate monument in July 2015 in Columbia, SC was celebrated by white and black people." That in and of itself is not proof that the long-term result of the removal of that banner has, or will lead, to a massive racial healing. Another would be siting the changing of the Dixie Youth Baseball League logo in 1993 leading to more minority youth joining in the last two decades. That would also not be actual proof since non-white children have been a part of that league for several decades prior to the removal of the Dixie Cross banner from the logo and local demographics having changed since that time.

Please send your responses to the comment section below on this blog. You can provide links to support your evidence. One rule though, your responses must be posted here on THIS blog. No "safe spacing" blog posts on other blogs and then sending links. This is the forum and it is here where y'all will put your money where you kiss your mommas. I give me word as a proud Southerner, a proud American, and a believer and advocate of free speech that I will post your response....if any. Lets just see if even one of y'all can deliver.

*It should be noted that in using the term "pro-Southern heritage" I do not simply mean Confederate heritage, which is only a part of a much large Southern heritage. I refer to the promotion of Southern identity and respect for historical memory, regardless of the positive or negative aspects. For the record I do not consider the American Civil War (War Between the States) itself to have been positive -- no war is, even if I consider the courage and fortitude of the Confederate citizen soldier to be very positive and certainly worth honoring in modern times.

6 comments:

I'm not here to take the challenge, because- it doesn't make much sense to me, why would I want to see your blog ceased? I rather see you argue further, even if I disagree- I live in Minnesota and don't know enough about the South (here in Minnesota we have few Confederate flags and few problems with them).

I do want to comment on the photo you show, however, three young, black men greeting an older white man with a Confederate flag. (I might repeat comments I made on your blog in 2015.) You claim that your Confederate flag is a Southern heritage and not the symbol of slavery and white supremacy (I don't like the expression white supremacy for today, but I think it fits the situation of blacks in America before the Great Migration). A large part of Southern heritage are the African-American citizens in the South. I can't say you if you're right or wrong, but I say that neither can you, only those African-Americans in the South can say that. Do they in their majority accept the Confederate flag as Southern heritage like grits and okra? Your photo seems to indicate that at least some do. Or do their majority oppose it as hated sign and continued reminder of slavery and Jim Crow? If they oppose it, you're out of luck, and so would be the flag that should be shown only in museums or at civil war reenactments.

I have a similar view of monuments of Confederate soldiers and officeholders and other power structures that suppressed blacks in the 18., 19., or 20. century. If the African-Americans, whose forefathers suffered under them, want them removed, the monuments should be brought into a museum. I came back to your blog because of the current dispute about the removal of Confederate and Recontructionist monuments in New Orleans, and because I remembered you as non-racist defender of the remains of the old South. I hope the monuments will be gone soon and will find a place in a museum that puts those monuments into the historical context of the oppression of African-Americans and will NOT destroy the monuments like barbarians do.

"You claim that your Confederate flag is a Southern heritage and not the symbol of slavery and white supremacy (I don't like the expression white supremacy for today, but I think it fits the situation of blacks in America before the Great Migration)."The Dixie Cross(Confederate battle flag) and Confederate heritage as a whole is a piece of Southern heritage - which is more or less a patchwork quilt of a number of cultural and ethnic identities and heritages. Also if I were you I would not presume to speak for what Black Americans (Before or after the Great Migration) actually think as a whole, even if you yourself are African-America. I am a Confederate descendants of Ulster Irish origin but I don't presume to speak for every white (or otherwise) Confederate descendant.

"A large part of Southern heritage are the African-American citizens in the South. I can't say you if you're right or wrong, but I say that neither can you, only those African-Americans in the South can say that."Actually that touches on the last point I made perfectly. Black Southerners have a huge and extremely positive role in Southern heritage as a whole. If you really understood the basic arguments of Confederate heritage defenders you sir might recognize that we agree there and embrace all of our people's heritage as a whole -- and yes, in the 21st century, Confederate heritage supporters raised on the ideals of "Heritage and Not Hatred" accept all Southerners regardless of skin color and religious faith as fellow Southerners.

"If they oppose it, you're out of luck, and so would be the flag that should be shown only in museums or at civil war reenactments."In making your somewhat strange arguments concerning Southern cuisine, you failed to mention BBQ (tisk tisk) and sweet iced tea (which actually has a Confederate origin incidentally, please check out my upcoming blog post on the subject June 10th). As to your other point, it has clearly been documented here on this blog that relegating the flag wrongly to a museum, or "civil war" reenactments would never be enough for those anti-Confederate heritage reactionaries who actively work to turned over to white supremacists: See my blog post of Oct. 20, 2016. Further, the NAACP and others have made it clear that one of their stated goals is to have WBTS reenactments done away with. Also you are aware that museums do not display all artifacts they have on hand -- indeed about 10% of them are actually displayed. And you miss the final crucial point: the Confederate flags (at least the original ones) ARE in museums already.

"I have a similar view of monuments of Confederate soldiers and officeholders and other power structures that suppressed blacks in the 18., 19., or 20. century. If the African-Americans, whose forefathers suffered under them, want them removed, the monuments should be brought into a museum." Well, I don't think much of "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman's statue on the SC Statehouse grounds either, given what I know of the guy and how he treated Black Southerners....never-mind how he personally treated an aged General Wade Hampton (a personal war hero of mine). That being said, I would not advocate for the removal of his memorial, nor for memorials to British and Loyalist dead. I wouldn't advocate destroying markers to those US troops who slaughtered the Native-American tribes. I would not even advocate for the removal of gravestones for WW2 German POWs held in prison camps here in America. Not only would it be Biblically wrong, it is morally obscene, even if you disagreed with the cause all those men fought for. Also again you presume that African-Americans as a whole think in a monolith...the photo you spoke of earlier in your reply says otherwise.

Finally while I appreciate your concern that the monuments should not be totally destroyed in a purge of cultural genocide, I must disagree with your assessment that all the monuments will be gone anytime soon. The opposition might get a few more major towns to go along with them, but there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Confederate monuments, markers, ect in small towns across Dixie. I doubt that the opponents of these monuments could in fact get them all before the Bicentennial of the war gets here in 2061 -- and frankly recent history suggests that the cultural regressives might not have that kind of time politically speaking. Indeed, they haven't even accomplished turning the majority of this country against the South's flag, and they've been at that for far longer.

I read your note that you "do not consider the American Civil War (War Between the States) itself to have been positive -- no war is, even if I consider the courage and fortitude of the Confederate citizen soldier to be very positive and certainly worth honoring in modern times."I consider the start of the war also as something negative and, after Antietam, it would have been good if the South would have realized its decreasing chances and agreed on returning into the union, thereby limiting the human suffering in the war. I must admit, however, that I consider the victory of the North as something very positive, resulting in the Reconstruction amendments that made the US first to the shiny city on the hill that (the slaveholder) Jefferson saw in it earlier. The Confederate soldiers defended something essentially evil, which I don't blame them for individually, but which would prevent me from celebrating or honoring their military performance.

"I read your note that you "do not consider the American Civil War (War Between the States) itself to have been positive -- no war is, even if I consider the courage and fortitude of the Confederate citizen soldier to be very positive and certainly worth honoring in modern times."I do not advocate for war and I oppose it except at the very last for a number of reason, not the least of which are that I have spoken to many veterans over the years and have read too many stories about all the ugliness behind the so-called glory. I have the highest respect for the men who went through that hell - in the case of the WBTS, the men on both sides regardless of which cause they fought for, and if I agree with it or not. I believe the lessons in how those men lived and the way they faced that ugliness is certainly a positive attribute to human courage and fortitude. Certainly a lesson for all generations. A better lesson would be not to actually fight wars, but the human condition being what it is, I fear that lesson will always be lost on us as a species.

"I consider the start of the war also as something negative and, after Antietam, it would have been good if the South would have realized its decreasing chances and agreed on returning into the union, thereby limiting the human suffering in the war." The start of ANY war is a negative, sir. Also I might point out that the failure of the Sharpsburg Campaign did not necessarily mean that the War would have gone bad for the South. Indeed Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville are two very big indications otherwise. I won't argue for war, and therefore won't go into speculation as to how the South could have assured its independence beyond that. That would take far too long and I'd rather move forward with the next blog posts I'm currently working on.

"I consider the victory of the North as something very positive, resulting in the Reconstruction amendments that made the US first to the shiny city on the hill that (the slaveholder) Jefferson saw in it earlier."Um, I must admit that I find it ironic you evoke Jefferson when you yourself stated you would love to see his memorials relegated to museums as well. Just an observation. As for the rest, the end of ANY war still leaves in its wake lots of damaged land, lots of ill feelings, and lots and lots of broken bodies and shattered minds. Even the positives of victory are tainted by all that. For example, tens of thousands of Americans were forced to leave this country after the successful end of the American Revolutionary War -- successful I should say for those who declared independence from Britain. The Loyalists who likewise considered themselves Virginians, Carolinians, New Englanders, ect. were just as much "Americans" as the Continental "Patriots" were, even if they saw loyalty to King and the Mother Country as important too. Did they deserve to be driven from their homes, banished from all they knew, tortured, even lynched by their neighbors for choosing what was inevitably the losing side?

To your final point, the Confederate soldier defended his own honor and his home from invasion. That is how he saw it. You are free to think they defended "something essentially evil" just as just about every other American-born soldier and militiman between 1609 - 1865 (including the Union soldiers from five slaveholding states, some of whom were themselves slaveowners) likewise did. You may not be able to overlook that -- and don't presume those of us who honor them do either -- but at the very least don't judge those who are able to do that...including the people in the photos you mentioned.

Once again thank you for your replies to my post and taking the time to write them.

Oh one more thing I forgot from the previous response. It concerns my challenge, and you made me realize I have to clarify something. Thanks man.

If someone can provide an effective response to my questions that I cannot refute, I do intend to give up defending Confederate heritage on this blog and other social media sites. That being said, I won't quit this blog itself since I do discuss other topics of interest here related to life in upstate South Carolina.I am planning on expanding on those interests and adding wider content to this blog in the near future.

Author of several short science-fiction/fantasy stories and celebrated fanfiction author for various cartoon series and science fiction series, Mr. Roden has written over 40 stories under various pseudonyms; best noted for writing the award-winning Hey Arnold! fanfiction story:Arnold's Couch Confessionsin 2003.

Mr. Roden is currently working on his first full-length science fiction-fantasy novel, as well as several other writing projects.

He is a resident of Chester County, South Carolina, USA. (Profile written by: N. McRae - with love.)

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